Lakeisle_of_Innisfree

Timothy Ernst Mrs. Thompson English 1002 2/13/2011 What is your Innisfree' In the poem “Lake Isle of Innisfree,” William Butler Yeats is trying to convey a simple theme to the reader. A theme of peaceful independence; the remembrance of a place where one can go to find solitude and get away from the grind of everyday life. Yeats uses alliteration, imagery, paradoxical diction, and rhyme scheme to create his theme of peaceful independence. The poem itself is a description of that perfect place Yeats goes to whenever he desires peace and quiet from the hurry-up-and-do-it-now world in which he lived. The diction used by Yeats when combined with the imagery of the poem conveys his sense of contentment and wonder when just thinking of his “Innisfree.” Phrasing such as “bee-loud glade,” “midnight’s all a glimmer,” and “noon a purple glow” give the reader a paradoxical image of the feeling of peace as he juxtaposes the contrasting images. Bees are not usually considered loud, nor does midnight glimmer or noon have a purple glow. Yeats use of these phrases in the poem reinforces the peaceful nature of the cabin on the lake. If one is in the countryside, a beehive can seem loud when compared to the still silence of nature. On a clear night the stars can cause the sky to glimmer, especially in the country setting of Innisfree. And the peace and quiet of the cabin at noon can bring memories of the purple quiet of night. By juxtaposing these seemingly opposite ideas, Yeats draws the reader’s attention to looking beyond the obvious and focusing on the deeper meaning he wishes to covey. The first quatrain of the poem creates the dominant image of the poem and demonstrates Yeats’ long for peace. By describing his cabin being made of “clay” and “wattles,” he is giving the image of a house in its simplest and oldest form. It is taking him back to the days where life was easy, quiet, and solitary. Living in London, Yeats was thrust into a world of nonstop urban expansion. There was nowhere he could have peace and quiet in London, for such a place didn’t exist within the city at the turn of the century. He needed his place on Innisfree for the calm that “comes dropping slow.” Yeats also made use of alliteration and nature sounds to further emphasize the feeling of tranquility that he associated with Innisfree combined with his rhyme scheme. The first three lines of each stanza of the poem all have a pause or break in the middle of them. This is to convey the gentle flowing nature of the poem, not unlike the image of waves lapping against the shore. Nature sounds such as the buzzing of the bees, the chirping of the crickets, and the flapping of the birds wings also give the reader the image of serenity as nature and quiet so often go hand in hand. The rhyme scheme of the poem is ABAB throughout the entirety of the poem. This is another metaphor for the ebb and flow of the lakes waves washing against the shore strengthening the gentle nature the poem is trying to display. It almost puts the reader in a trance as he tries to envision the perfect setting created by Yeats. The last stanza of the poem explains how important Innisfree is to Yeats. He claims it is with him “always night and day.” He can always come back to it no matter what difficulties he is facing in life. Even when he is standing “on the pavements gray” he can still see Innisfree in his “deep heart’s core.” Innisfree is more than a mere place. It is that perfect setting that can always bring someone a sense of peace no matter what it is they are going through, no matter what trials they are facing. Everyone has an Innisfree, be it a house, a room, a thought, or even a memory that can be found in the toughest of times or the best of times. In “Lake Isle of Innisfree,” William Butler Yeats paints the picture of his perfect escape through the use of imagery, diction, juxtaposition, alliteration, and rhyme scheme to create his theme of peaceful independence from the chaotic urban world. Through the poem, he not only gives the reader the picture of his own Innisfree, but gives him the opportunity to create his own in his “deep heart’s core.”